● Apparently some people around the world still watch TV, which seems pretty crazy to
me, but still, as long as there is television, there will be things that governments try
to censor.
Is there anything we’ll never be able to see?
Should anything even be censored at all?
Here are some obscure things you can’t show on TV.
15 - Hemorrhoids Adverts ● It’s seven o’clock, you sit down with
a bowl of chicken chow mein in front of your favourite show, but when the commercial break
comes on, you’re shown a graphic advertisement for some soothing butt-cream to ease the pain
of hemorrhoids.
Lost your appetite?
Yeah, that’s what we thought, and so did the government of China when it banned all
commercials for hemorrhoids and tampons around mealtimes.
14 - Elvis’s Hips ● In the 1950s a young Elvis Presley was
getting the USA all shook up over both his music and his dancing.
An appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in 1956 displayed Elvis’ trademark gyrating and
thrusting hip movements, which shocked conservative America so much that crowds of people were
even burning effigies of him.
His performance on the show a year later only filmed him from the waist upwards, to protect
the innocent girls of America.
13 - Swearwords ● There are supposedly seven words which
will always be censored in the US, or at least limited.
The writers of the Walking Dead have had to use the word ‘screw’ as a replacement
for its ruder alternatives.
But the FCC has also imposed limits on even the number of bleeped f and s-words that some
daytime shows use.
In the UK, data has been gathered on words that Brits want censored, words that most
Americans won’t even recognise such as : clunge, minge and bellend.
12 - Brand Products ● We’re all familiar with product placement
on TV and in movies, like when James Bond loudly orders a cool, refreshing Heineken.
But sometimes broadcasts have to actually avoid showing or mentioning a product because
they can face serious defamation lawsuits if the companies aren’t happy with the way
their product is represented.
This results in writers coming up with things like Happy Cat instead of Hello Kitty, or
Friendface instead of Facebook.
11 - Smoking ● In 1971, on Johnny Carson’s New Year’s
broadcast, viewers witnessed the last ever advertisement for cigarettes on television.
Since the ban, most countries have followed suit, both in commercials and actual shows.
This is why famous smoking characters like Sherlock Holmes wears nicotine patches in
the BBC series, and chain-smoking comic book character John Constantine had his tobacco
habit written out altogether by NBC, although they were happy to show plenty of torture
and death on the show.
10 - Dating Shows ● The Turkish government has being going
pretty heavy with censorship lately, blocking Wikipedia and banning evolution from being
taught in schools.
In their latest move to protect people from supposedly sinful ideas, the government has
banned dating shows saying that they took away the “nobility and sanctity” of the
family institution.
They defined the shows as “programmes in which people are introduced to find a friend”,
which doesn’t seem so bad to us... 9 - Military Secrets
● If you’ve ever seen a American film or TV show which features military equipment,
vehicles or locations, that means it has passed the approval of the Department of Defence.
Any show looking to borrow any kit from the army is required to submit the script to the
Pentagon, who will force producers to change anything that is likely to deter people from
joining the army, of if anything in the story comes too close to real-life military secrets.
8 - Sexist Stereotypes ● After 2017, commercials on British TV
will be banned from reinforcing gender stereotypes, in accordance with the Advertising Standards
Authority.
This means ads featuring men being useless at housework, while their wife is a domestic
goddess are no longer acceptable, and depictions of little boys growing up to be scientists,
while girls grow up to be dancers are also not on.
The aim is to break some of the assumptions we have about gender roles in society.
7 - In-Flight Movies ● With some airlines spending up to twenty
million dollars on in-flight entertainment, it’s important that they have material that
satisfies their customers.
This includes censoring any sexual content, in case you’re sat next to an eight-year
old, and removing references to pork on Middle-Eastern flight.
And it goes without saying that airplane disaster movies are all completely banned.
No one wants to be reminded of crashing when they’re at forty thousand feet!
6 - Homosexuality ● Worried that just showing the existence
of gay people will suddenly turn everyone gay, several countries around the world have
banned depictions of homosexuality on screen.
In Indonesia, Russia and China, while it is legal to be gay, they have prohibited broadcasters
from showing same-sex relationships.
This famously became an issue with the release of the Beauty and the Beast movie, which featured
a gay character, and was banned from cinemas and TV networks.
5 - How To Make Drugs ● The series Breaking Bad was well praised
for its depictions of crystal meth addiction and also the process of manufacturing the
methamphetamine.
But the US Drug Enforcement Agency actually had a consultant work with the writers and
director to ensure that Walter White’s scenes of drug-making were not one hundred percent
accurate.
They didn’t want viewers at home to be given the perfect recipe for an illegal substance.
4 - Subliminal Messaging ● Subliminal advertising is the use of hidden
messages such as quickly flashing single frames or coded messages to make the viewer subconsciously
desire a product.
While most psychological studies have actually proven it to be ineffective, the practice
has been banned in countries like the UK and Australia and is regulated elsewhere.
So the chances are you’ve never seen a subliminal message, but then, if you had, you wouldn’t
know, would you?
3 - Interracial Relations ● A sign of how far we’ve come, you only
need to go back fifty years to a time when the thought of two people of different races
kissing on TV was shocking to much of the Western world.
In 1968, an episode of Star Trek saw Captain Kirk kissing the black Lieutenant Uhura, but
the network was frightened of public outcry so they made the actors record a take without
the kiss, but actor William Shatner deliberately spoiled it, forcing them to broadcast the
original.
2 - Nudity ● Obviously nudity has always been censored
for TV, although many European networks have no problem showing nakedness during the daytime.
We’d have a hard time explaining to aliens why a male nipple won’t raise an eyebrow,
but a female breast at a super bowl show will result in a congressional hearing.
The strangest example of censorship was the tv version of the movie Showgirls, in which
underwear was drawn onto the actresses using what looks like microsoft paint.
1 - Time Travel - China ● Bad news for fans of Back to the Future
and Doctor Who, the Chinese government decided to ban all movies and tv featuring time travel.
The government dislikes the idea of going back and changing their history, something
that only they are allowed to do, we guess.
Their official statement also added that stories of that type have “monstrous and weird plots”.
The same could be said of thousands of shows, but surely that’s no reason to censor them?